It's nice to bond with someone especially if there's food. Even better when the bonding includes the words "food trip". I met one of my closest college friend to give her the chili garlic oil she ordered from my brother and decided to met in and visit Maginhawa Street.
When I moved to another city, I cook less and less as the day goes by so I badly "needed" home cook meals and the menu of Nuezca Cafe has it. Even the place feels homey with a mini garden to relax and make muni muni after a meal , my friend and I think that the place is a home converted into a restaurant but never bothered to ask since the staff are super busy (and don't want to stress them more but they are still very accommodating) that day because of a christening in the second floor which we almost gate crashed (we headed straight to the second floor without asking and was surprised with the huge amount of people wasting food~random bubbling just in case you're interested).
On to the food. We decided to make our experience more Filipino by sharing and ordered Sizzling Bicol Express (my friend's choice) and Pininyahang Manok (my choice, it's been years since the last time I tasted this dish) and we were surprised with the serving which is good for 2 to 4 persons and remembered that we forgot to invite one of our closest college friend *face palm* the food trip could have been more enjoyable if we didn't forgot to invite him (pay less but more types of food sana ahahaha).
My friend fell in love with the pig shaped sizzling plate, another random fact. We are both into spicy food more than an average Filipino who is more into the sweeter side so even if we are already munching into the chilis, we still wanted this dish to be a bit more spicy. Also a little more coconut milk would help to make this Bicol Express more wonderful but overall, it's actually good with the right amount of saltiness which contradicts the sweetness of the Pininyahang Manok.
Buttery, creamy and sweet, Pininyahang Manok is what I'm craving for when I feel a little rebellious and sweet at the same time (I'm allergic to chicken and my mom only cooked this dish once). And with the right amount of sauce, chicken and rice together, it satisfied my craving.
Some facts about Nuezca Cafe that I like:
-They don't use MSG
-Pork and Chicken are organic (we didn't know that when we entered the resto) yet price is still affordable
-And the quote saying "If you want breakfast in bed, sleep in the kitchen"
I forgot the name of this drink...I think it's made of lemongrass and honey but anyway it's "controversial" to us because when we asked one of the waiters as to what are the brownish particles at the bottom of the pitcher, he gave us this surprised and shock look and we we're like "uh oh we are already on our last glass kuya don't frightened us". Luckily it's just some particles from their organic honey.
We we're so full that instead of taking tricycle, we just walk instead going to our dessert place - Sancho Churreria Manila which is just beside the famous Burger Project.
We ordered cream puff, eclair, hot milk chocolate and of course churros. Surprisingly the cream puff and eclairs are cheap that I can't help but order even if we just wanted churros. The Milk Chocolate is really milky and chocolatey~ it's the best that I tasted so far and hope that the next time I visit, they milk dark chocolate version.
And the very reason why I nag my friend to go to Sancho, the churros. I tasted churros that are too crispy, churros that are too soft, churros that are too sweet and churros that are simply bland even dipped with the chocolate. This one from Sancho has just the right definition of churros and wanted another serving.
I really wish we didn't forgot to invite our other friend because by the time we went to the next resto to try, we are still so full and don't want to enter anymore. Will definitely comeback to Maginhawa Street to visit some breakfast place, coffee shop, and an interesting resto that seems like selling gayumas.
∆rya
